Giuseppe Spinelli (1 February 1694 – 12 April 1763) was an Italian

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith

Biography

A native of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, he was the son of Giambattista Spinelli, marquis of Fuscaldo, prince of Sant'Arcangelo and duke of Caivano. His mother was Maria Imperiali. He was the grand-nephew of Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, cousin of Cardinal Cosimo Imperiali, and uncle of Cardinal Ferdinando Spinelli.Miranda, Salvador. "Spinelli, Giuseppe (1694-1763)", The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Florida International University, 2018
/ref> At the age of thirteen, he was sent to Rome to live with his maternal uncle, Cardinal

Giuseppe Renato Imperiali Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (1 May 1651 – 18 February 1737) was an Italian cardinal, and known as an avid bibliophile. Biography He was born in Francavilla Fontana in Apulia, in the Kingdom of Naples, into an aristocratic family which had come ...

, while attending the seminary. In 1717, he was awarded a doctorate in civil and canon law from

La Sapienza University The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. He was named privy chamberlain of

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...

, and ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1724. The following year he was appointed papal nuncio to Flanders and consecrated titular archbishop of Corinthus by Cardinal d'Alsace. He was

archbishop of Naples The Archdiocese of Naples () is a Latin Catholic archdiocese in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christian community was founded there in the 1st century AD and the diocese of Naples was raised to the level of an Archdiocese in the 10 ...

from 1734 until 1754. In this capacity, he conducted a search for the relics of Agrippinus, an early bishop of the city. He found a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

vase with the following words written: "Indeterminate relics that are believed to be the body of Saint Agrippinus

He also summoned Stefano Pozzi to decorate the cathedral at Naples. His clandestine attempt to introduce the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

to Naples in 1746, resulted in a violent popular uprising, whereupon

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

forced him to renounce his see and leave the capital. He did so with the greatest of reluctance, attempting first to remedy the situation from Rome, but finally resigned the Archbishopric in early 1754. In 1756, he became prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He later became

Bishop of Palestrina The Suburbicarian Diocese of Palestrina () is a Latin suburbicarian diocese centered on the comune of Palestrina in Italy. The current bishop of Palestrina is Mauro Parmeggiani, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 19 February 2019. Prior to h ...

in 1753, Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina in 1759, and Bishop of Ostia in 1761. He belonged to the conservative ''

zelanti In Roman Catholicism, the expression ''zelanti'' has been applied to conservative members of the clergy and their lay supporters since the thirteenth century. Its specific connotations have shifted with each reapplication of the label. The Latina ...

'' faction in the College of Cardinals. He became Dean of the Sacred College in June 1761. He was also Cardinal protector of the Scottish nation from 1753 until his death. Spinelli died at

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1763.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinelli, Giuseppe 1694 births 1763 deaths Archbishops of Naples 18th-century Italian cardinals Deans of the College of Cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Ostia Cardinal-bishops of Palestrina Cardinal-bishops of Porto 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Members of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith Latin archbishops of Corinth 18th-century Neapolitan people